


Hush Little Baby

by cornflakepizza, orphan_account



Series: Hands to Hold [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Ghosts, Horror, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Past Murder, attempted harm to children, haunted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2015-07-04
Packaged: 2018-04-07 14:11:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4266219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cornflakepizza/pseuds/cornflakepizza, https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tommy is back at the Elliot Estate on last time to clear it up. He wants to close that chapter of his life and focus on the future. A future filled with happiness with his foster son Dick, his old friend Bruce and Bruce’s adopted son, Jason. It won’t be as easy as clearing up dust to forget the past, especially when the past has come for revenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hush Little Baby

It was a chilly October afternoon. Tommy Elliot dug his hands deep into his pockets, looking at the discrepant old house in front of him. He let a stream of cloudy breath out. He wasn’t sure he was ready for this.

 

“So you have to take stock of things, huh?”

 

He looked over. Bruce Wayne stood tall and solid at his side.

 

“Yeah,” he nodded.

 

It had been years since he had seen the Elliot Estate, but it was there as it had always been. A decrepit old shadow in the back of his mind. Twisted, ready to engulf. This had been his prison for his whole childhood. An ugly place that he had no fondness for and no desire to ever return to.

 

He watched as Dick and Jason ran forward through the grounds playing an impromptu game of tag.

 

Recently, the shadows in the back of Tommy’s mind, the memories of abuse at the hands of his parents, had been receding. First because of Dick, his foster son, the light of his life, and then through his re-acquaintance and kindling relationship with Bruce Wayne and his adoptive son, Jason.

 

He finally felt strong enough to deal with it. His haunted childhood.

 

It couldn’t hurt him anymore.

 

He was here to clear out some items and clean up a bit. He could have hired someone, but felt like he needed to face the house one last time. Bruce offered his assistance and of course Jason wouldn’t be left out.

 

One weekend and he could finally close that chapter of his life. He felt Bruce’s hand on his shoulder.

 

And maybe start a new one.

 

“Wow! It’s almost as big as Jay’s place!” Dick cried, running towards him with his usual enthusiasm. Jason was at his side, nodding.

 

“Hey! Are you saying my place is small? Jeez Dick, I should throw you out!” He said it with a smiling face. He was trying to break his own tension, but maybe old insecurities had peppered his words. Dick looked up at him quickly. His smile faded for a moment before coming back in full bloom.

 

“You wouldn’t do that!” Dick said, confident that Tommy’s reply would be:

 

“Nah! I never would.” He scooped up Dick and his tiny arms wrapped around him. He felt a bit of relief. He didn’t have to be afraid of this place.

 

“Ready to check it out?” Bruce kept his voice bright, but he had an inkling of what Tommy was thinking. The memories that haunted on him.

 

But he didn’t know. He didn’t really know what this place meant.

 

“Yeah, ready to go.” He walked forward. Jason ran over and took Bruce by the hand as together they headed towards the front door.

 

He dug into his pocket. The key, still on his key chain. He never took it off. It wasn’t like he needed any more reminders, but he always felt gripped.

 

“Welcome to the Elliot Estate.”

 

He slipped the key in. It gave easily, almost like the house was glad to have visitors. The door swung open and revealed the dusty entrance hall.

 

“Wow!” the boys gasped. He could only envy children at their marvel of such an ugly place. He set Dick down and the boys were instantly inspecting everything they could get into.

 

“Hey, be respectful,” Bruce chided. “And don’t go out of sight. It’s an old house. We don’t know how safe it is.”

 

“Yes Bruce,” they chorused.

 

Tommy snorted at their antics. “You three can take the bags upstairs while I check if the breaker is still working, how’s that?”

 

“I got my flashlight!” Jason volunteered. Soon Dick and Jason were hauling their overnight bags, with Bruce on their heels as they made their way upstairs. It didn’t take long for Tommy to find the breaker. Everything worked fine. Light flickered on.

 

The queasy nostalgic feeling rose, but was soon dispersed when he met Bruce and the boys back in the entrance hall.

 

“We have our work cut out for us,” Bruce said, brushing off some of the dust that had fallen on him. “The bedrooms are alright, the dust covers over the beds did their job, but we’ll have to clean up quite a bit if we want to be able to stay the night.”

 

“That’s what we’re here for. Sure you don’t want to back out? You really don’t have to help if you don’t want to.”

 

“Oh no, if I chicken out I’ll never hear the end of it from Alfred.”

 

He liked it… when Bruce showed his lighter side. He was a serious guy and, other than with Jason and Alfred, didn’t let his smiles show much like he used to when he was young. The death of his parents must have taken that away…

 

But… Tommy had noticed more smiles for him in the months that they had gotten to know each other again.

 

“Alfred would be proven right about your inability to do simple house hold chores, we can’t have that.” Tommy let his thankfulness show. Bruce squeezed his shoulder.

 

“Exactly.”

 

The rest of the day was spent cleaning and making sure the boys didn’t make a bigger mess or break any of the old expensive furniture.

 

It all reminded him of his mother. She had always liked sparkling things. The glitter and abundance of wealth. She didn’t ever want anyone to forget what she had. It was all about shallow appearance. It didn’t matter that her family was falling apart, that her husband was an abusive drunk and she was a manipulative hound, always able to sniff out Tommy’s deepest fears and set them up against him.

 

He had hated his father’s beatings. Resented every unwarranted hit, but it was his mother he had dreaded. Just her words could set him into cycles of uncertainty and fear.

 

If he wasn’t his best, if he showed any weakness, she would poke until a wound was red and bleeding. Any blemish on him was a blemish on her and she could never allow that.

 

She had to be perfect and so too did Tommy, worthy of the Elliot name and the Elliot wealth.

 

He stared at the bed. He had decided on the master bedroom, his childhood room, and a guest room located nearby, but he wasn’t sure he could sleep in that bed. The bed of the master bedroom. His mother’s bed.

 

That night played again in his head. His mother’s berating. She didn’t approve of his girlfriend.

 

A lower class of person. How dare he even consider someone like that to continue the Elliot name with?

 

And how he took the pillow and—

 

“I think I should get the biggest room since I’m doing the most work.” He jumped as Bruce came up behind him. “You can have the guest room, and the boys get your old room, that work?”

 

He nodded thankfully. Bruce seemed in tune with how he was feeling. Thank God he was here.

 

-

 

“This place is so cool!” Jason shouted. His voice echoed up and down the empty halls. He and Dick had been given the all clear to play in the old music room where a grand piano stood. He pulled himself up on the bench and Dick quickly followed.

 

“Can you play?” Dick asked him curiously. He pulled up the cover and cracked his fingers.

 

“Sure! Well… there’s one at home and I play around a little bit sometimes.” He pressed down on one of the keys. It sounded wrong, all odd and out of tune. He frowned and played around a bit. Dick stuck out his tongue and put his hands to his ears.

 

“You’re bad at this.”

 

“Am not, it’s out of tune! Wait!” He finally found a section that was close in key. He slowly tapped out a tune.

 

“Hush… little ba—by… don’t say a… word,” he sung softly.

 

“Mama’s gonna buy you a mocking bird!” Dick finished. “I know that song. Mom used to sing it to me before bed.”

 

“Ma-ma’s gonna—” Jason tried to play. The door opened, startling the boys. Tommy was there. He looked a bit on edge.

 

“You shouldn’t play with that. Come on now, you boys can help with all the dust. Don’t think I won’t put you to work!”

 

“'Kay!” the boys agreed, hopping down and running towards him, the piano and the old melody forgotten.

 

-

 

The echoing chords put a chill down Tommy’s spine. He quickly got the boys and put them to work clearing dust. He remembered his mother singing that song. It was her favorite lullaby. The wealth, a mother giving her silent child anything. Tommy could never remember the ending. It always seemed to go into more and more lavish material gifts that the mother would give the crying child. No warmth or reassurances of love.

 

But he got distracted from the old memories again, by Bruce’s laughter at Jason and Dick’s little kitten sneezes when the dust got in their nose. At Dick’s loud singing of row, row, row, row your boat and trying to get them to sing in canon and failing each time. At Jason’s long story involving when Alfred and he had tried to clear up some of the dust in the East wing of Wayne Manor and had found a nest of bats. After clearing the rooms they did the kitchen, getting rid of all the dust. They didn’t have anything to cook, but Tommy had packed sandwiches and a picnic blanket which he laid over the old table, and Bruce warmed up cider on the stove, which was thankfully still working. The house had grown chilly with the October evening falling, but everyone was wrapped up in sweaters and blankets and close together for warmth. Soon the boys were tucked in bed, and he and Bruce were sitting on the ground in front of a fire in one of the sitting rooms nearby.

 

“It brings back memories,” Tommy said, “and you know… the crap overshadows most of it, but there were good things too.” Christmas morning, his Dad sober, his mother smiling, a roaring fire and the Christmas tree making the whole room smell like pine.

 

“Yeah, for me too. You usually came over to my place, but I remember spending lots of time here as well. Both of us in your room playing marbles and wrestling on the floor.”

 

“Just like them.” Tommy smiled contently thinking of the boys.

 

“Yeah,” Bruce agreed fondly.

 

They sat in amiable silence. “You know, I was wondering,” Bruce said slowly.

 

“Hm?”

 

“You hated your mother—I mean…”

 

“Yes,” Tommy said succinctly. There was no need to sugarcoat it or qualify it. It could be left at that.

 

“Why is Dick wearing her necklace?”

 

The circle of bright green jade. It had never left his mother’s neck until her death, and had never left his until the day he had given it to Dickie. Maybe Dick had been too young for a present like that, but Dick was always careful. It hung around his neck even now.

 

“It was a reminder for me, of what hell I had gone through here. Made me remember to never be like them. It turned into something else when Dickie came into my life. I gave it to him the day I met him. He was all alone in the world and I remembered what that felt like. I promised I’d always be there for him… I’d always protect him. The necklace is a symbol of that. That I’d always be better than they were. That I’d always love him like they never loved me. Melodramatic, right?”

 

“No,” Bruce decided, “No, it sounds about right. It must have been reassuring to Dick, that you were so willing to reach out to him.”

 

“Yeah,” Tommy yawned. “I’m beat.”

 

“We’ve been cleaning all day. I think we should follow the boy’s example and get to bed.”

 

“Yeah. Hey, Bruce? Thanks for the help. I really do appreciate it.”

 

“What are friends for?”

 

-

 

A loud thump woke Dick up from uncomfortable hazy dreams, now dimly remembered. He only recalled a feeling of hopelessness and loneliness. He was glad to be in the waking world again. He looked over at Jason’s blue eyes, reflected in the moonlight.

 

“You heard it too, right?” Jay whispered.

 

Dick nodded. He rolled closer to Jason’s side.

 

“Do you think it was Bruce and Tommy?”

 

Dick shook his head. “It was really loud—maybe it was the aliens!”

 

“Not this again.” Jason rolled his eyes, but Dick could feel his body relax a bit. The old joke, the first game they had played together. The memory made Dick feel braver and was obviously having the same effect on Jason.

 

“Come on, let’s check it out!” Dick whispered excitedly. He pulled off the covers and slipped out of bed.

 

“But Bruce said not to wander,” Jason pointed out, although he was already sliding off the bed.

 

“That was before we had checked out the place. It’s fine now,” Dick replied. He made his way to the door.

 

“Wait!” Jason caught his hand. Dick turned in annoyance about to reassure him again.

 

“We should be prepared for anything,” Jason said seriously. “You can’t just run head first with no plan. That’s what Bruce always says.”

 

“Oh,” Dick frowned. That was a good point. He let Jason pull him back towards the bed.

 

“First we need a flashlight.” Jason pulled out the one he always carried with him. It had a piece of plastic on the bulb that made the shadow of a bat when its light shone. Jason dropped it into his red bucket. When they had first met it never left Jason’s side, but now it was an important tool in games, not a safety blanket.

 

“What else?” Dick asked.

 

“We should bring backup.”

 

“Oh! Zitka can be our backup, she’s very brave,” Dick vouched for the stuffed elephant in his arms. Jason nodded.

 

“Yeah, Zitka’s super brave. We should also bring blankets since it’s so cold in here.”

 

The two pulled the extra blankets off the bed. They were bright yellow. Dick threw his over his shoulders and tied the corners together like a cape, like Superman would wear, then he did the same for Jason.

 

“Check.”

 

“Um… slippers?”

 

“Oh, good idea.” Dick pulled out the cheap pair of slippers Tommy had bought them just before they got to the Elliot Estate.

 

“Green?” Jason asked.

 

“That was the only colour,” Dick shrugged. The last thing he gathered was his jade necklace that he had put on the dresser.

 

“Ready?” Jason asked. “The trail might grow cold.”

 

Another loud thump echoed down the hallway.

 

Dick grinned at him. “Maybe not.”

 

The two snuck out of their room, tip-toeing past the Master and guest bedroom where Tommy and Bruce slept. Dick grasped Zitka firmly in one arm and Jason’s hand tightly with the other.

 

“What’ll we do if we find it?” Jason asked.

 

“I don’t know, it’ll probably be friendly, but if it’s not we’ll probably have to do battle.”

 

“Cool,” Jay grinned. “We can totally take it.” Jason swung his red bucket confidently. It had been a trusty weapon in many a skirmish.

 

They followed the thumping and soon it was joined by soft scratching that led them to the kitchen. Dick flipped on the light.

 

No one.

 

He frowned. That wasn’t exciting at all.

 

More quick scratches from… the oven.

 

“Huh? Do you think the alien is hiding there?”

 

“It’s probably a cat,” Jason said going forward. He placed down his bucket and let go of Dick’s hand, pulling it open. There was nothing inside. Dick felt an evil shiver run down his spine.

 

“Maybe you shouldn’t get so close,” he said.

 

“There’s nothing there….” Jason poked his head in just to make sure.

 

He gave a shriek of surprise as something caught him and pulled him inside. The oven door slammed behind him.

  
“JASON!!!” Dick screamed. He was at the oven door in a second trying to pry it open, but it wouldn’t budge. “JASON!!!”

 

“HELP! HELP!!” He could hear Jason pounding against the oven door on the other side, but nothing moved the door.

 

There was a loud click. Dick looked up. The oven had turned itself on. Through the scratched sooty glass of the door he could just make out Jason’s terrified face and the red glow of the element.

 

“TOMMY!!!” Dick screamed.

 

-

 

As soon as he put his head on the pillow Bruce could feel a sliding unease. He put it down to an unfamiliar house and an overactive imagination. That this was the place his childhood friend had suffered. He had put on a cheerful façade for Tommy, seeing he needed it, but honestly the place spooked him. He had only just fell asleep when the yelling woke him.

 

First he thought it was a bad dream. A boy screaming for help. In the dream it was Tommy being swarmed by shadows, but he quickly identified it as Dick.

 

His heart raced. He was out of bed and through the door, almost slamming into Tommy on his way out. They didn’t even confirm with each other; they know what they heard. Dick screaming. They raced down the hall following his cries until they reached the kitchen. Dick was banging on the oven door, tears streaming down his face.

 

“Tommy!!!” he continued to cry.

 

“What’s in the oven?” Bruce asked, realizing Jason was nowhere in sight.

 

“Jay! Jay! Get him out! Get him out!!” Dick begged.

 

Horror as he picked up on the soft whimpers and weak bangs against the oven door.

 

Tommy hurtled himself forward and pulled at the door, but it didn’t move.

 

“It’s stuck!”

 

Bruce was at his side pulling hard, but Tommy was right, it had locked shut.

 

“It’s on.” Tommy reached over trying to flip it off, but the lights didn’t dim. Warmth and Bruce’s panic rose.

 

“Together!” Tommy said. They grabbed the handle and threw their weight back.

 

“Please!” Dick cried. The banging in the oven had stopped. The door had grown too hot.

 

“If we smash it!” Tommy suggested.

 

“That will hurt him!” Bruce yelled.

 

“One more time!”

 

The put all their energy into it. Finally the door gave. It bent off its hinges and pulled open. Bruce scooped Jason into his arms. The boy was sooty and sobbing and covered with small burns, the worst of which were on his knuckles from banging in the glass. A blanket that had been tied around his neck had served to protect the rest of him. His rush of relief flooded with anger. How close that was. He faced Dick who had collapsed on the ground and was leaning against the wall, holding his stuffed elephant tightly.

 

“What happened?” he demanded.

 

Tommy stepped forward, blocking his child from view, naturally going to protect him from Bruce’s angry words.

 

“We thought it was aliens, but it wasn’t.” Dick said in one breath.

 

Tommy bent down, holding his foster son’s shoulders. “You’re going to have to speak English. What happened?”

 

“W-we heard noises. Big thumps, so we went to go look for what it was. We got to the kitchen and heard scratches in the oven and I thought it was an alien and Jay thought it was a cat. So we opened the door, but there was nothing there—b-but then Jay leaned in to make sure and he got pulled in and the oven door shut and I couldn’t open it.” The panic rose in Dick’s voice at remembering what had happened.

 

Bruce played the scenario in his head and for an awful moment wondered…

 

What if Dick had done it while Jason was looking, had shoved him in and closed the door?

 

 

No, Dick would never do that. He loved Jason too much for such a mean trick, and Bruce knew the boy, he would never do something so sadistic as to close the oven door and turn it on.

 

Bruce breathed slowly. Jason was still shaking in his arms, his head buried against his neck, hot tears sliding down onto his nightshirt.

 

“Dick…” he didn’t even want to say it, “Did you maybe bump Jay? Just accidentally and the door—”

 

“What are you accusing him of?!” Tommy hissed. He held his foster son closer to him and looked up at Bruce angrily. “How could you even think that?”

 

“Well what else could have happened? I’m sure it was just an accident, right Dick?”

 

“She caught my arm and pulled me in,” Jason said very quietly.

 

They went silent. Jason slowly unburied his head.

 

“What?” Bruce asked gently.

 

“She?” Tommy probed.

 

“She caught my arm and pulled me in. It wasn’t Dick. It was the lady, the lady with the scarred face. She pulled me in.”

 

-

 

Tommy’s stomach dropped.

 

No, there was no way. She was dead. She was buried in the cold unforgiving dirt in the farthest corner of the Estate. _He had killed her himself_.

 

“Slow down,” Bruce said calmly. He was alert, aware, looking around the kitchen for clues. “There’s someone else here that pushed you?”

 

“NO! She pulled me in! Pulled!” Jason shouted. He squirmed in Bruce’s arms. He put him down and Jason automatically grabbed his bucket for comfort.

 

“She was waiting in the oven and she pulled me in!”

 

The lights started to flicker.

 

Tommy stood. Knowing, horrible knowing. Complete horrifying possibility, but it had to be.

 

“We need to go. We need to go now.”

 

They fell into darkness and a choking panic rose in the back of Tommy’s throat. The urge to scream, but then he felt a small hand grasp his.

 

“Tommy, I’m scared.”

 

“It’s alright, Dickie,” he lied. “I’m here.”

 

There was the spark of flame and then a warm glow.

 

“Candles in the drawers, I noticed them when I was making the cider. It’s okay boys. It’s just a power outage. We’ll be fine.”

 

“Bruce, we need to leave,” Tommy said urgently. Bruce was in no hurry, insufferably calm. He lit another big candle and handed it to Tommy, then took two smaller candles with wax guards and handed one each to the boys.

 

“I have my flashlight,” Jason said, clicking on the batlight. Bruce blew out the extra candle and handed the other to Dick.

 

“Be careful with that.” Bruce straightened and turned to Tommy, “If there’s someone in the house, it’s two of us against one. She might have gotten the drop on the boys, but she won’t get the drop on us.”

 

“No, Bruce, we have to go.” Jason tugged insistently at his sleeve.

 

“Jason, it’s okay. I won’t let her hurt you again.”

 

“She didn’t feel real, but she felt angry and it hurt,” Jason tried to explain. He pulled up his sleeve. Bruce gasped. A very clear blistering wound in the shape of a handprint.

 

“Holy—.” Bruce cut himself off.

 

“I think it was Mother.” Tommy had backed himself into the corner of the kitchen, away from the offending wound. Dick still grasped his hand tightly. In the other hand was the little burning candle, and his stuffed elephant was tucked in his arm.

 

“Don’t be silly,” Bruce said dismissively. “Maybe it’s someone who knows you. They broke in and they’re trying to scare us. The children, trying to cope with the fright, turned them into a ghost.”

 

A slow cruel laugh filled the kitchen just out of reach of their candlelight.

 

“Show yourself!” Bruce demanded, placing himself in front of Tommy and the children.

 

A scarred woman in expensive looking clothing and jewelry slowly entered their circle of light.

 

She should be dead.

 

Bruce took a quick step back. He surely recognised her by now.

 

“Bruce Wayne!” she spat. “Coming over, that’s rare. Usually he’s hiding in your house.”

 

It wasn’t true, it wasn’t true.

 

“Which really should have been mine,” she sneered, “if it wasn’t for that whore of a mother of yours.”

 

“…Mrs. Elliot?” Bruce whispered.

 

“In the flesh! Or whatever’s left after my traitorous son took my beauty away from me.” Her ugly scarred face curled into a wide, terrifying smile. “That’s right, Thomas, I know everything. About the car accident. How your father wasn’t supposed to be the only casualty…”

 

“Run,” Tommy said.

 

“And you’re in big trouble.”

 

“RUN!” he shouted.

 

She surged forward taking a swipe at Tommy’s face. He blocked it with his arm and felt searing pain at her touch. She moved near the kitchen knives and they floated at her side, six in all.

 

“You took my beauty, it’s time I took something of yours,” she cackled. The knives flew at Dick.

 

“No!” Tommy shouted.

 

Dick tumbled to one side, the first five missing him completely. He was even able to hold on to his little candle, but the last knife was headed straight towards his heart.

 

“NO!” Jason screamed. He jumped in the way, holding his bucket as a shield. Tommy and Bruce couldn’t move in time, but the knife bounced harmlessly off the plastic red bucket. Tommy was too relieved to question why it hadn’t gone through. He grabbed Dick by the hand and made a break for it, Jason and Bruce beside him. They had to get out, they had to get out of here. The entrance hall wasn’t far, if they just got out of this hellish place they would be okay—

 

He felt Dick’s grip loosen and let go. Tommy skidded to a halt and turned. Dick was running back. His stuffed elephant had fallen out of his arm.

 

“Dickie!” Tommy yelled. Dick grabbed the elephant and turned around, about to sprint back. The hallway doors slammed shut with Dick on the other side.

 

“DICK!” He screamed. They banged on the door from both sides, but it wouldn’t open.

 

“Tommy!” Dick banged from his side.

 

“Is she there, Dick?” Tommy asked, fearing the answer. If he couldn’t get through—

 

“No, she’s not here.” Dick dropped his voice to a whisper. “Tommy, I’m scared.”

 

“We have to open the door!” Jason said.

 

“Dick… listen Dick, we can’t open the door.” It was oak and wasn’t going to give like the oven door did. “You need to be brave for me… you and Zitka, can you be brave for me?”

 

“Y-yes Tommy.”

 

“That-a-boy. Alright, now there’s a connecting hallway. All you have to do is go to the study. We should be able to get in from the other side. You run as fast as you can and meet us there. It’s five doors on your left. One, two, three, four, five to the left, okay?”

 

“One, two, three, four, five, left,” Dick repeated. “One, two, three, four, five left—wait, which is left?” Dick asked in alarm.

 

Damn it, he forgot Dick was having trouble with his directions.

 

There was a scraping sound. Dick gave a shout of surprise and Tommy could hear the sound of small feet running in the opposite direction.

 

“We need to go, we need to get him!” Thomas ran as fast as he could towards the study. Bruce had scooped up Jason.

 

“We’ll find him. He’ll be okay. We’ll find him.”

 

-

 

Dick was doing his best not to cry. He clung to Zitka and the candle, holding it out in front of him as he shakily made his way down the hall. He unsteadily counted the doors as he passed, each one seeming farther away than the last.

 

“I-it’s okay Zitka, don’t be scared,” he whispered. “Tommy will find us, he’d never let anything happen to us. Don’t worry, he’ll find us. Tommy will protect us.”

 

He stopped. A hollow wisp of a voice started singing…

 

“Hush little baby, don’t say a word, Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.”

 

Dick shut his eyes, holding back his tears. He didn’t want to move a step further, but the only way to get to Tommy was to find the study. He had to be brave, like Tommy had asked him.

 

“And if that mockingbird don’t sing, Mama’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.”

 

Then everything would be okay. Tommy would protect him.

 

“And if that diamond ring turns brass.…”

 

Dick tried to remember how his mother would sing it. It would be sweet and melodious, but he couldn’t remember her voice anymore.

 

Four. The next door, the next door.

 

“MAMA’S GONNA BUY YOU A LOOKING GLASS!!!” Marla Elliot cackled as Dick passed a hallway mirror. Her scarred face appeared. He screamed, running as fast as he could. There were two doors, one on each side.

 

Right and left, which was which?

 

He didn’t have time to think. He opened a door and ran in, slamming it shut.

 

-

 

The study was empty when Bruce pulled the door open, but Dick’s legs were shorter and the way he had to take was longer. Tommy stared at the door, waiting, but it didn’t open. He went further in, Bruce followed with Jason. The door slammed shut behind them.

 

He waited for Mrs. Elliot’s cackle, but it didn’t come. Instead there was a sliding wet sound. The sound of ice hitting glass and liquid being poured. Jason nervously pointed his flashlight around the room, but there was nothing. Bruce pointed his candle towards the desk. On the floor, a dark ooze, black in the dim light.

 

It was…

 

“LOSE SOMETHING, BOY?” The bellow made Bruce jump and he almost dropped his candle. Another spectre of the past. Roger Elliot, torn into pieces and barely held together, appeared behind the desk, taking a huge swig from the glass tumbler in his hand. He stood. Tommy staggered back. The ghost was in the middle off the study. Books flew off the shelves. He blocked their way to the other door and Dick.

 

“Get out of my way old man.” Tommy gritted his teeth. The tumbler was suddenly smashed against the side of Tommy’s head. He stumbled back clutching the head wound.

 

“Let me past, damn you, let me past!” he shouted desperately. The ghost drunkenly swerved into Tommy’s path and sharply backhanded him.

 

“YOU WILL LISTEN WHEN I’M TALKING TO YOU, WORTHLESS PIECE OF FILTH.”

 

Tommy fell on the floor, an angry red mark appearing on his cheek.

 

“No!” came a faint call, “Tommy wouldn’t do that!”

 

“DICKIE!”

 

-

 

He closed the door and realized his error. He was back in the music room. He hastily tried to turn the knob again, but it was stuck. He whimpered. He had gone the wrong way. The old piano let out horrible, out of tune chords

 

_And if that looking glass gets broke, mama’s gonna buy you a Billy goat._

Dick moved to the corner farthest away from the piano, holding Zitka tightly to his chest.

 

“Tommy will come, don’t worry, Tommy will come.”

 

Marla appeared at the piano. She stood leisurely and moved towards Dick.

 

“So this is the circus rat my son has decided to bring into my house.” Her voice was acidic and mean. “Big top trash, undeserving of the Elliot name and wealth. What a disappointment.”

 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please don’t hurt me.”

 

“Little coward,” she sneered. “Then again, I shouldn’t really worry. He doesn’t want you anyway.”

 

Dick looked up, shaking his head furiously. “No, you’re wrong, Tommy loves me.”

 

“You heard him in front of the house, about getting rid of you. I bet he’ll take any excuse now.” The piano continued to play even as she moved closer.

 

_And if that billy goat won’t pull, mama’s gonna buy you a cart and bull._

“Tommy loves me. He says so all the time.” That was proof, that was all the proof Dick needed.

 

“But he doesn’t like to spend much time with you, does he? He’s always at the hospital dumping you at that daycare, or with Bruce Wayne. If he really loved you he would stay with you all the time. How do you know he’s going to the hospital? Maybe he just wants to be away from you.”

 

“It’s not true,” Dick whimpered. “He’ll come, he’ll come for me any second now.”

 

Marla cackled.

 

“He wants to throw you out.”

 

“He was just kidding!”

 

“Oh?” This close, he could see that the parts of her skin that weren't scarred were patchy and discoloured. “Then why hasn’t he adopted you yet?”

 

“A-adopted?”

 

“WHY HASN’T HE ADOPTED YOU YET?” she repeated, “IF HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH?”

 

Dick shrunk back, sinking down to the floor at her outburst and clinging to Zitka, the candle off to one side, forgotten.

 

“You’re a foster son,” she said triumphantly. “It means he can throw you out anytime he wants if he changes his mind.”

 

“He wouldn’t, he never would.”

 

“In fact,” she was standing over him now, slowly leaning down, “He probably wants me to have you. Typical. Doesn’t have the heart to drown the kittens even though he let the tomcat in. Don’t worry, little mouse. I’ll take care of it all.” Her fingers, so firm and real, ran through his hair. He looked up, tears in his eyes. Where was Tommy?

 

“I’d never have you as a grandson, of course, a poor little mouse like you? What a joke. But maybe I’ll keep you as a pet. Someone to clean up around here. Lord knows I’m not doing it.”

 

Dick trembled. Her hand slid down his cheek and grasped his chin, inspecting him. “How could my son ever be so foolish to think you would ever be good enough? Thank God he’s come to his senses. I’ll take care of everything. He’ll never see you again. He’s finally taking his chance to get rid of you. Like he got RID OF ME!” She screamed.

 

“Tommy! Tommy!” he started calling fright. Please, please, please come.

 

Marla bent down and noticed the circle of jade around his neck.

 

“You little thief,” she jeered. “Stealing what doesn’t belong to you. You had a family and lost it. You don’t deserve another one. That necklace. It’s mine. Give it to me!” She reached out, grabbing the circle of jade, but let out a howling screaming when she touched it.

 

“YOU LITTLE BRAT! AND I WAS GOING TO BE NICE TO YOU!”

 

-

 

“LET ME THROUGH!” Tommy shouted. Roger laughed at him.

 

“So weak, you’ve always been weak. You could never fight me, could you son? You couldn’t even fight against your mother’s words. You just let everything happen to you. Playing the victim.” Roger backed Tommy into the corner and started slapping him. “Pathetic! You were always so pathetic! Doesn’t this bring back old memories, son? It’s been too long!”

 

Bruce felt his rage rise up. Tommy was a child and this is what he lived through? Bruce hadn’t understood then - not even when he had finally figured it out as an adult. He hadn’t known just how bad it was. He was a child! Tommy had been a child! He had been Jay’s age.

 

Jay clung to his leg, crying against him.

 

“Dickie, we need to save Dickie.”

 

“How dare you,” Bruce growled. He grabbed the iron poker by the fire place and charged, swinging it through the ghost’s body. The ghost swung around but only laughed at his efforts. “HOW DARE YOU HE WAS ONLY A CHILD YOU BASTARD!! YOU SICKEN ME”

 

-

 

Dickie was lost and they couldn’t get to him, and now Bruce was fighting an invincible ghost, bloody and horrible, but the ghost, despite not being hurt by the blows, did back away from Tommy, edging away from Bruce.

 

“You think you can be happy with them, son?” Roger taunted, his focus on Tommy. “Don’t you remember what you’ve done? What if your White Knight here knew about that, hmm? What if your little Robin knew? How you cut the brakes. How you planned the accident. How YOU KILLED ME!!!”

 

Jason gasped. Bruce missed a step and stumbled back, barely avoiding a blow from the ghost. He looked over at Tommy in shock.

 

Tommy backed away. He looked so afraid and so sorry. “I had to escape you. I had to escape both of you. You were torturing me,” he whispered. All his energy was gone. Even Dick’s yells didn’t seem to hit him.

 

Roger chuckled, advancing on Tommy. “Haven’t you realized it, Tommy? You’re a monster. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and your mother was the biggest monster of them all. You’ll be like her. You think you should be around a boy like Dick? You? A murderer? You think you deserve the Waynes’ loyalty? No. You deserve Hell, Tommy, and that’s where you’re going. You’re going to die here, Tommy, and suffer for all the crimes you committed. You’re going to pay for what you did to me. Such a failure. You couldn’t even die properly. Now you’ve dragged them into it. They’re going to die here too, Tommy. At least you have company, but that’s what you want, isn’t it? Company in Hell. What a selfish devil you are.”

 

Bruce was frozen and Tommy collapsed on his knees.

 

“Please,” Tommy begged, “Please no, let them go. I’ll stay, just let them leave, please! You can’t hurt them. Bruce is a good man, and Jason’s just a little boy who’s finally found happiness, and—and Dickie, Dickie. Please let him go, please. Anything, I’ll do anything, just let them leave.”

 

“Leave him alone,” Bruce said. He surged forward. “HE ISN’T THE MONSTER, YOU ARE!”

 

Jason clutched his flashlight, flipping it on. He was so scared, he wanted Dickie here with him and he wanted Bruce and him and Tommy and Dickie to be together and out of this awful place. Bruce attacked the ghost again, and the flashlight’s light hit Roger on the forehead. He shrieked, the Bat symbol burned into his forehead.

 

“WHY YOU LITTLE BASTARD!!” Roger moved through Bruce, his bloody body trailing blood, and came at Jason, but Jason knew the secret now. He aimed his flashlight at the ghost.

 

“GO AWAY! GO AWAY AND STOP HURTING US!”

 

Roger screamed and retreated from the light. He disappeared.

 

“TOMMY, TOMMY!!” They heard Dickie yell.

 

Bruce scooped Jason into his arms. “Good job old chum.” He kissed him hard on the forehead. “Good job, you were so good.”

 

“We need to save Dickie!” Jason demanded, “Now that we can fight them, we need to save Dickie!”

 

Tommy was already in the hall and throwing himself against the locked music room door. Three good hits and it burst open.

 

-

 

“YOU LITTLE BRAT! AND I WAS GOING TO BE NICE TO YOU!”

 

“DON’T TOUCH HIM, DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM!!” Tommy ran into the room. It didn’t matter that it was the ghost of his mother, it didn’t matter that he would die here and was probably going to Hell. He had to save his family. He had to do everything in his power to save his family. Marla had a hand around Dick’s throat.

 

“GO AWAY!” Jason yelled. The light of his flashlight hit Marla, and like Roger, she screamed, burned at its light. She staggered back. “NO!” she yelled, but Jason was relentless and she had no choice but to retreat.

 

“Dick!” Tommy finally had him in his arms. Dick sobbed uncontrollably.

 

“I knew you would come, I knew she was a liar!” he cried, shaking in his arms. “I knew you wouldn’t throw me out.”

 

“No, never. I love you, I love you Dick. You’re my son, I wouldn’t leave you, I never would. You’re my son,” he whispered, clutching the boy finally safe in his arms. He was crying too. The terror of his mother having him. Doing what she had done to him to Dickie. He peppered Dick’s head with kisses, “You’re my little bird, we’re okay. It’s me and you. It’s me and you forever, okay? And Jay, Jay’s here and Bruce. We won’t leave you. We love you Dickie. You’re okay.”

 

“I was so scared, I was so scared, but I knew you would come!”

 

He felt a hand on his shoulder and tiny arms around his middle. Jay and Bruce.

 

“If it comes to it, I’ll give myself up and you get the boys out of here, okay?”

 

“What are you saying?” Bruce asked.

 

“I’m saying they’re right. He wasn’t lying. I cut the brake line, I killed him… and I smothered my mother with a pillow.” He felt his stomach drop. Saying it out loud. Sometimes he was able to pretend it hadn’t been him. That it really had been an accident, that his mother had died from cancer.

 

“Just please, get out of here, take care of the boys… take care of Dickie.”

 

“No, you can’t!” Dick sobbed.

 

Suddenly they were both enveloped in big arms. Bruce.

 

“You damn fool. There is nothing that would make me leave you here.” Some of the fear and panic melted. Being held by Bruce and Jay and holding Dickie and feeling safe in an unsafe place. “What you did was self-defence. They abused you, Tommy. They hurt you.”

 

“I killed my mother in cold blood. She was dying of cancer. She couldn’t fight me. I smothered her.”

 

“I would have killed her too,” Bruce said angrily. “All I can think of is if it was Jason in that sort of situation and what I would do. I would have killed her, Tommy. Sick with cancer or not, especially when her power was always with her words. Just because you weren’t a child anymore doesn’t mean your torture at her hands ended.”

 

“Bruce.”

 

“We’re leaving together.”

 

“We’ll be okay, I have the flashlight!” Jason said. They looked down at him. Bruce picked him up so they were all level.

 

“Flashlight?” Tommy asked.

 

“It’s magic. When I turn it on, I know that Bruce is somewhere thinking of me. Evil ghosts don’t like stuff like that.”

 

Dick blinked away his tears, “Y-yeah, like when she tried to take my necklace, she got burned. You promised you would always be there for me and protect me when you gave it to me, so she couldn’t touch me.”

 

“I don’t think—” Tommy began.

 

“They might be on to something,” Bruce said, “Think of it. The knife harmlessly hitting off a plastic bucket. Roger getting weaker while I fought him, even though I wasn’t doing any damage. They can’t hurt us if we’re strong, Tommy.”

 

“If we have love,” Jason pressed.

 

“Right,” Bruce smiled.

 

“They’ll have the entrance blocked, we’ve seen what they can do,” Tommy said slowly.

 

“What’s the safest room in the house?”

 

“My room.”

 

-

 

They got into the room, only a few doors down from the music room, and started barricading the door, although Bruce knew it probably wouldn’t slow them.

 

“Keep shining that flashlight, chum,” he said encouragingly. “Good soldier.” Jason nodded seriously, holding his flashlight up so that the light hit the door, the shadow of the bat twisting over the furniture shoved in the way. He puffed up proudly. Only a little boy, but he would do anything to protect them. Dick was huddled beside him holding his jade necklace tightly. Jason wrapped his free arm around him.

 

“Don’t worry Dickie, I’ll keep us safe.”

 

“We’ll be okay,” Bruce said again. He pulled Tommy with him to the bed and sat down. Jason leaned against him taking comfort from his presence. Tommy huddled on the bed and pulled Dick onto his lap, wrapping his arms around him.

 

“It’s okay Tommy, we’ll protect you,” the little boy reassured, braver now that he had his family surrounding him.

 

 

Tommy and Dick had become part of their family. It was more than friendship, it was a bond. The thought of anything happening to either of them chilled. Dick was as good as a son to him and Tommy…

 

“How come you were never so sweet to us, Tommy?” Marla’s voice, all the more terrifying because it seemed so solid and human. A person on the other side of the door. “How come you didn’t protect us?”

 

Bruce clasped Tommy’s shoulder. His friend squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block her out.

 

“Murderer. A cowardly murderer. Couldn’t even fight like a man, had to resort to dirty tricks to off me,” Roger sneered, like Marla, so solid. Blood trickled under the door, but the ghosts didn’t come through. The light still protected them.

 

“You were mommy’s good little boy, whatever happened? Why couldn’t you be perfect? Why did you have to be so flawed?”

 

“Always running away, hiding behind people. They’re going to die, Tommy, they’re all going to die.”

 

“Trying to make a _Gypsy_ the heir to the Elliot name, what a laugh. How could you want a creature like that? Have I taught you nothing?

 

“Isn’t this what you want, Tommy? You want a family, don’t you? Well here it is. Here’s mommy and daddy, you little coward!”

 

Tommy had curled around Dick protectively; he was starting to break down. “I’m going to lose you, I’m going to lose you and it’s my fault. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” he whispered. He was basically catatonic, only able to repeat how sorry he was.

 

The light flickered.

 

“Oh no,” Jason said. “Bruce….”

 

The flashlight died, the batteries exhausted. Blood moved further into the room. The mangled ghost of Roger Elliot entered with Marla on his arm, scarred and discolored with a triumphant grin.

 

“Play time’s over, son,” Marla snickered. Shadows flickered everywhere from the single candle left in Bruce’s hand.

 

“You’ve failed, you failed us and you’ve failed them and now you’re all going to die.”

 

“If that cart and bull turn over, mama’s gonna buy you a dog named Rover,” Marla sung. Bruce shook with anger. They thought they had won. They thought they had already won!

 

How dare they? How dare they do this to a person they were supposed to love and protect?

 

“He’s not yours yet!” Bruce growled at the approaching figures. “He’s no failure. Do you know what he means to me? When he pulled away from me I was devastated and hurt. He was so much to me back then, and not having him there burned and it was your fault. It was your fault he had to pull away. Your poisonous words. I wish I could have protected him from you, because he’s done so much for me. When we met again, when we connected again, I couldn’t have been happier. I lost my parents, you see, and unlike you they were good people. They loved me. Losing my family shattered me, but adopting Jason, I started to mend. I had a family again and then Tommy and Dickie were in our lives. It’s only been six months, but watching the boys grow, seeing Tommy happy, finally happy. Do you have any idea what that means? Tommy being able to get out from under your shadow, away from the nightmare you made for him? Being able to raise Dick with love and care despite what had been done to him? Do you know how brave that is? How hard?”

 

“And if that dog named Rover won’t bark, Mama’s gonna buy you a horse and cart.”

 

“How dare you. How dare you try and take it all away from him again. But you can’t. It is not yours to take.” They were at the edge of the bed now. Jason’s body shook against his. He pulled Tommy close so that the boys were sandwiched between them in their arms.

 

“And if that horse and cart fall down—”

 

“HE’S NOT YOURS TO TAKE! AND IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU SAY! WE’LL KEEP LOVING HIM! HE IS THE WORLD TO US!!”

 

The ghosts screamed angrily, reaching out to attack him. Bruce moved his body protectively over Jay.

 

“Get out.”

 

They stopped.

 

Tommy was back now, his eyes firm. He stared at them, unafraid.

 

“GET OUT!!” he roared. “YOU WILL NOT HURT MY FAMILY! GET OUT!”

 

The monsters flew at them, trying to get at them, but whenever they came close they shrieked in agony. They couldn’t touch them. They couldn’t touch them.

 

“I have feared you all my life. Even after you died. First I feared what you would do to me, then I feared the person I would become because of you, but I’m not like you and I’m not afraid of you anymore. GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE!”

 

With his words, with the love for each other they shared, the monsters burst into flickering ash, burnt up, gone.

 

Silence rang.

 

“And if that horse and cart fall down…” Dick’s voice wavered in the thick silence, “Mama’ll always love you and she’ll always lift your frown.”

 

Tommy looked down at Dick in surprise.

 

They held each other. Through the window, dawn broke. The sun peaked in.

 

They had made it.

 

** Epilogue **

 

They gathered up essentials, elephants, buckets, and flashlights and left the rest. Despite knowing they had won, they didn’t want to be in the house for another minute.

 

All in PJs they piled into the car, strapping the boys in and leaving the Elliot Estate behind.

 

“I… I’m hungry,” Jason said. They all laughed. Such a normal thing. Driving, being together, being hungry. Bruce pulled into the first greasy spoon diner they could find. They came in, giggling, cheerful in their pajamas. They took a seat in the booth. There were a few whispers of: Isn’t that Bruce Wayne? But no one stopped them or bothered them. They looked so happy how could anyone want to take it away? The waitress grinned at them.

 

“PJ kind of day?”

 

“Yep!” They all replied and peeled into laughter again. The waitress took their order, stacks of pancakes, eggs, sausages, orange juice, waffles, they even ordered the ‘pumpkin pancakes,’ and pumpkin spice lattes they were ravenous.

 

“Oh! Tommy, can I have a sip of your pumpkin pie laddy?”

 

“It’s pumpkin SPICE laddy!” Jay corrected. The boys bickered about it and Tommy ended up giving both a sip.

 

“I spoil you too much,” he grumbled good naturedly.

 

“Hey… Dickie?” Tommy asked after eating his fill.

 

‘Yeah Tommy?”

 

“That… that version of the song you sung.” He didn’t even want to say the title.

 

“Mom used to sing it to me,” Dick said with a fond smile. “The… the ghost,” He dropped his voice as if he didn’t want her to hear, “Tried to use it to scare us… but… but Mom would sing it… I couldn’t remember in the house for a while cause I was really scared… I mean,” He glanced at Jay, “I mean not super scared, but you know, it was scary. But then I remembered Mom always ended it different. Cause we didn’t have lots of money, she could never buy rings or bulls or even dogs named ‘Rover,’ but the one thing she could do for me was she could always make me smile when I was sad… so she ended it like that.”

 

Tommy thanked his lucky stars again for Mary Grayson and the love she had shown her son… love that he missed dearly, but was able to hold on to.

 

“You’re all…” the events of the night hit him for a moment. He felt so moved, so honoured. They all looked at him expectantly. “You all saved me… if not for you… if not for your quick thinking Jay with your flashlight, or your bravery Dick or your… or your words Bruce I would have never been able to get out of there. Thank you.”

 

“You’re our family, Tommy!” Jay said brightly, “It was no problem—well it was super scary and let’s never do it again, but no problem!”

 

Dick and Jay giggled at Jason’s words. Bruce was looking at him seriously.

 

“I meant ever word you know. We… I love you.”

 

Over pancakes, with family, what had been hovering between them for the last six months, finally said out loud.

 

He reached out under the table and felt Bruce’s fingers entwine with his own.

 

“I love you too.”

 


End file.
